Whatever

Did any event people run the marathon yesterday? Hats off to you if you did - I watched it from the end of Commercial Road and it was knackering enough just as a spectator. I have a theory that marathon day is the east end's equivalent of Hogmanay - it seems to inspire absolute chaos and a level of boozing which seems slight disproportionate to the supposedly sporty aims of the event.

Anyway - the marathon has been doing its bit to make the event greener - check out an article I wrote last week for the Wharf newspaper: 

So far so good, until you see the mountains of Vittel bottles being discarded by the thirsty joggers. To be fair these were nowhere to be seen this morning so well done to whoever cleared them up, but is it really necessary? In their defence Vittel are running their fleet on zero emission vehicles and have donated caps to volunteers made from, er, recycled bottles. Maybe this is best practice and there's no more that could be done. I don't doubt that the runners definitely need the water. Is anyone aware of an organiser going the extra mile as it were?   

Had a fantastic meeting on Friday with the energetic and enthusiastic organisers of Power Shift 09. These guys are so full of get up and go it made me feel even older than I actually am. They're planning a fantastic event in Manchester in August which is going to bring together thousands of young people to discuss, debate and plan action around the issue of climate change. It's being headed up by the UK Youth Climate Coalition - more details to follow soon on their website, www.ukycc.org.

We're going to be helping out on the sustainability side of the actual event itself. I see offering our services for events like this on a pro bono basis as fundamental to our ethical approach. It also allows us to learn from the drive and determination of the next generation of sustainability professionals. 

In the meantime, you can check out what the event looked like in the States... exciting stuff.